Seattle

2009 Arizona Fall League has ended as the Peoria Javelinas defeated the Phoenix Desert Dogs 5-4 to win the league.

Seven players from the Mariners organization played for the Javelinas and some looked they're close to the big league. Let's review how they've done this fall.

Dustin Ackley 1B/LF

The Mariners drafted Ackley second overall in last year's draft. He did not sign with the club until the signing deadline so he didn't play in the minors.

According to mlbtraderumors.com , the Seattle Mariners signed SS Jack Wilson to a two-year, $10 million contract. Wilson is known as best defensive shortstop in the MLB as he posted best UZR among all shortstops, but his 2010 option was bit expensive($8.4 million) so the Mariners were trying to rework his contract.

This deal gives the Mariners a decent everyday shortstop as they played Yuniesky Betancourt on the opening day last year. The Mariners' already impressive defence looks even better with this move.

Remember 1997? Spice Girls. Titanic. The Simpsons (back when it was still good). And Ken Griffey Jr.

Ok, so maybe Griffey wasn’t a pop culture icon like Baby Spice, Leo, or Homer J(ay), but he was the unquestioned king of baseball.

He hit home runs. He made great plays. He smiled. He had fun playing. We had fun watching.

Griffey was the type of superstar professional sports yearn for. Yes, he was a little cocky with his home run strut, but what star athlete isn’t?

Griffey had a presence.

Some weeks back I had a spare hour on my hands, and wanting to not get swallowed up by fond nostalgia for the 1995 Mariners, I put together a starting lineup and roster of the best ex-Mariners. These are guys who played however briefly at the Kingdome or Safeco, were traded, signed with other teams, or were simply released, and went on to star elsewhere.

It’s no secret that Carlos Silva has been absolutely terrible since signing with the Mariners last year. He had a good first month, back in April of 2008, but since then he’s been worth somewhere around -1 wins.

I’d even go so far as to say that there’s a petty good chance the Carlos Silva signing will go down as one of the worst in Mariners history.

This is a question that Mariners fans have been asking themselves and each other all season. So far, there really hasn't been a clear cut answer, but it's starting to look more and more like a yes.

As of now, the Seattle Mariners are sitting at 35-34, two-and-a-half games behind Texas and two behind LA.  On top of that, this upcoming series with San Diego presents an opportunity to gain even more ground, as our division rivals are facing much more challenging opponents.